Improvement in gig-saddle trees



H. H. HEDRICK. Gi -Sandie Trees.

Patented March 24.1874.

No.l48,953.

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YNITED' STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

HIRAM H. HEDRICK, OF PARIS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO JOHN H. MEYERS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN GIG-SADDLE TREES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,953, dated March 24, 1874; application filed December 10, 1873.

bind and securely hold to each other by interlapping joints, and without rivet or screw-bolt fastenings. My invention further consists in the combination with the center wedge and V the pad-plates, lap-jointed the one with the other, of a looped screw'bolt and the checkrein hook, whereby the wedge is tightened with the seat, and the pad-plates by a direct adjustable connection of the back-strap loop with the check-rein hook, through the intervention of the center wedge, the objects of said improvements being to obtain the advantages of putting the several parts of the harness-tree together, after the saddle is completed, by means of the peculiar lap-joint connections, and a screw-shank from the backstrap loop, admitting, thereby, of the removal of any or all of the parts to renew any one of them when brokena distinguishing feature of these improvements being the utilization of two parts of the tree (the back-strap loop and the check-rein hook) to maintain the structure intact as a whole, while rendering it more convenient and economical in constructing the saddle.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical section of a harness gigtree embracing my invention; Fig. 2, a front view; Fig. 3, a rear view; Fig. 4., a top view.

with the seat removed; Fig. 5, a view in perspective of the center wedge detached; and Fig. 6, a similar view of the check-rein hook.

All the parts of the harness gig-tree are made of malleable iron and united by interlapping joints, and secured together by a center wedge of peculiar construction and a screw-shank of the back-strap loop. The seat A has angular grooves a a formed upon its under side by a recess, a, or otherwise, to

receive angular tongues 12 1), formed outwardly on the upper ends of the pad-plates B B, and between these tongued ends a center-wedge device, 0, is placed to lock the pad-plates to the seat, the top surface of the tongues b b and the wedge 0 being flush with the bottom a of the seat. Below the tongues b b, and adjacent to the center wedge, the pad-plates have angular tongues c c, which intermatch with correspondingly-formed projections cl d from the wedge device, the upper end of each padplate having a form similar to the letter Z, by which to complete an upper and a lower lapping joint, the first with the seat and the second with the center wedge, and as the sides of the latter taper toward the pommel, so the angular grooves a a in the seat have a corresponding form, and into them the pad-plates and the wedge are inserted together, and by their interlapping joints held firmly and securely to each other, as if by the action of a miter-joint connection of the parts. The sides of the wedge form nearly perpendiculars, and the tongued ends of the padplates stand flush with them, while the lower projecting laptongues 61 d of the wedge bear against the inner sides of the pad-plates, which are hollowed out at e e for that purpose, which concavities, in connection with the flat bottom f of the wedge, form a smooth under surface, and avoid gouging the horses backs. This interlocking of the parts will only allow of their separation by withdrawing them horizontally from the seat-groove, for the wedge is maintained in its vertical position by means of side ribs 9 g, overlapping the upper inner corners of the pad-plates, so that the latter, in effect, fit within an inner and an outer socket, and, being braced by the two, make a very solid connection. The check-rein hook D is made with a solid end, It, and is secured within the angular grooves a a, under the forward end of the seat, by lap-joints b b on the solid end h, and so as to bear directly against the front end of the wedge O and edges of the pad-plates. The parts thus described are put together without bolts or fastenings of any kind; but to hold them securely together the back-strap loop E is made a screw bolt or shank, F, which, passing through an opening le ngthwise in the wedge O, enters a female screw in the enl. rged end h of the check-rein hook D, and as the shoulder i on the loop-bolt F bears against the rear end of the wedge 0, it draws the hook hard against the front edges of the pad-plates, and drawing them rearward over the wedge the latter must expand the pad-plate tongues and bind them, and thus keep them bound tightly within the seatgrooves a a, so that it is impossible for the parts to become separated or get loose; but to separate them it is only necessary to unscrew the back-strap loop. pad-plates in the manner described, they can be made straight from the seat, and hence more easily and quickly made, and the very great advantage obtained of putting all the parts together after the saddle is completed. All the parts are made detachable, and either can be replaced if it should become broken,

and especially the hook, without ripping the pads. The terrets G are screwed directly into the pad-plates, and the seat has a pomniel, H. The gig-plates are provided at their ends with spring-plates, and are padded in the usual manner.

I claim By connecting the 3. The outer and inner tongues b b and c 0 of the pad-plates, in combination with the upper and lower tongues g g and d d of the wedge,

and the angular grooves a a of the seat, as and for the purpose described.

4. The straight pad-plates B B, for use with a" separate socketed holding device, as described.

5. The concavities e e of the pad-plates, in combination with the angular tongues d d, and the straight-bottomed wedge device, as and for the purpose described.

6. The cheek-rein hook D, secured in posi tion by interlapping joints, and the screw shank of the back-strap loop, as described.

HIRAM H. HEDBIOK.

WVitnesses J. N. MoOLURE, JAMES FITZGERALD. 

